Problem Solver: Theater horsing around with church group's refund

Months after canceled show, money still hasn't arrived

April 12, 2012|Jon Yates' "What's Your Problem?"

Natalie Johnson, who coordinates an older adult group at Grace Lutheran Church in La Grange, said Chicago's Noble Horse Theatre has not refunded her group's money after the theater canceled a show in October. (Keri Wiginton, Chicago Tribune)

For members of the older adult ministry at Grace Lutheran Church in La Grange, Oct. 14 was supposed to be a fun day in the city.

The church group, which calls itself Older People Up to Something, rented a bus and made lunch reservations at a nice restaurant.

The highlight was to be a show at the Noble Horse Theatre in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. To secure their seats, the group paid the theater a $180 deposit months in advance.

Organizers had everything perfectly planned.

But on the eve of the trip, Oct. 13, a representative from Noble Horse called the church's older adult coordinator, Natalie Johnson, with some bad news. The show had been canceled because the theater did not have enough performers to ride the horses.

"I had to call everyone who was on the trip to say we're not going," Johnson said.

The church group's members were disappointed but they understood the circumstances. So did the bus company, which immediately canceled the group's booking and refunded its deposit.

The restaurant, too, erased the church's lunch reservation.

The only trouble came from the folks who forced the cancellation — the Noble Horse Theatre.

On Johnson's initial calls to the theater, a Noble Horse representative asked her if she'd be willing to reschedule the church's outing. Johnson said that would be difficult because the church had other events planned.

But as the months passed, the check did not arrive — and Johnson began to get antsy.

When she called the theater over the winter, she was repeatedly told her request would be forwarded to someone higher up because the person taking the call did not have the authority to approve a refund, she said.

No one called back.

Fed up with waiting, Johnson emailed What's Your Problem? on March 12.

She said she had called Noble Horse Theatre at least a dozen times and sent six emails.

"I've tried everything I can think of," she said. "I've been in contact with them since Oct. 14 and I keep getting the runaround."

Johnson said the money is important to the church.

"We operate on a trip-to-trip basis and cannot afford to lose $180," she said. "It's been a long time. We've been very, very patient."

The Problem Solver called the theater's owner, Dan Sampson, who said the refund got bogged down by personnel issues.

Sampson said Noble's Horse's longtime group sales coordinator died shortly after the Oct. 14 performance was canceled.

"Things kind of went to hell after she left because her notes, she didn't keep them on the computer or anything," Sampson said. "We're kind of a small operation. I'm sure it was just overlooked."

The Problem Solver emailed information about Grace Lutheran Church's booking to Sampson on March 13.

When no one from Noble Horse contacted Johnson in the days that followed, the Problem Solver called Sampson again. He said he had not seen the original email and asked for it to be resent. The Problem Solver resent the email March 22.

Several days later, Sampson said employees at the theater had "looked through the stuff and couldn't find anything" relating to the church's booking or the $180 deposit.

"I'll just have to take a leap of faith and issue the refund," he said. "We're just going to have to honor it."

Johnson said someone from the theater called a short time later and requested a copy of the canceled $180 check, which she promptly emailed.

"But nothing has transpired," Johnson said earlier this week. "She tried to talk me into making another engagement there and I said no."

On Wednesday, Johnson received a call from a manager at Noble Horse who said the theater was having financial problems but would pay the church back within three weeks, but the $180 might arrive in installments, Johnson said.

"I don't have a problem with it, I just want to make sure it's all paid," she said. "We'll see. It's been an interesting ride."

The Problem Solver will provide an update when the church receives the money.